the "things you wish you could say" thread

[Larimar]

Admin, this is the second mass email you have sent out since I started teaching here, crowing about giving raises to full-time faculty and staff. The first time, there was a by-the-way to the effect of 'unfortunately, we cannot afford to offer raises to the adjuncts at this time'. This was several years ago now, and I have not forgotten. The one you recently sent simply didn't mention adjuncts at all, anywhere. Um, we're still here.

Do you have any idea how demoralizing hearing "everyone is getting a raise except you" is?

[OneMoreYear]

So, you know this new prep I agreed to? Yeah, um, I'm going to take a mulligan on that. I'm sure you can totally find some other victim volunteer one week before the semester starts, right? K, thx, bye!

Also, unrelated: it's a reasonable accommodation. Accommodations that require me to hy-flex a FTF lab class and spend hours of additional work to change almost every assignment are not reasonable.

[downer]

So, you know this new prep I agreed to? Yeah, um, I'm going to take a mulligan on that. I'm sure you can totally find some other victim volunteer one week before the semester starts, right? K, thx, bye!

Also, unrelated: it's a reasonable accommodation. Accommodations that require me to hy-flex a FTF lab class and spend hours of additional work to change almost every assignment are not reasonable.

I hope you can find ways of saying those things.

[OneMoreYear]

So, you know this new prep I agreed to? Yeah, um, I'm going to take a mulligan on that. I'm sure you can totally find some other victim volunteer one week before the semester starts, right? K, thx, bye!

Also, unrelated: it's a reasonable accommodation. Accommodations that require me to hy-flex a FTF lab class and spend hours of additional work to change almost every assignment are not reasonable.

I hope you can find ways of saying those things.

The first one is more of a vent on myself. Also, to be clearer, I had a reasonable amount of notice (replacing me would give someone else one week before the semester to prep it). The class is in my general area of expertise, and I agreed to it. And, it helps keep me employed for the year, which I know is more than some can say. The prep is just kicking my butt, given everything else going on. Perhaps I should have found a whining thread for that one.

The 2nd will be interesting. I don't have the official letter yet. I just see where it's headed.

[Hibush]

So, you know this new xxx I agreed to? Yeah, um, I'm going to take a mulligan on that. K, thx, bye!

I should use this as my email sig. Great idea.

[Puget]

So, you know this new prep I agreed to? Yeah, um, I'm going to take a mulligan on that. I'm sure you can totally find some other victim volunteer one week before the semester starts, right? K, thx, bye!

Also, unrelated: it's a reasonable accommodation. Accommodations that require me to hy-flex a FTF lab class and spend hours of additional work to change almost every assignment are not reasonable.

I hope you can find ways of saying those things.

The first one is more of a vent on myself. Also, to be clearer, I had a reasonable amount of notice (replacing me would give someone else one week before the semester to prep it). The class is in my general area of expertise, and I agreed to it. And, it helps keep me employed for the year, which I know is more than some can say. The prep is just kicking my butt, given everything else going on. Perhaps I should have found a whining thread for that one.

The 2nd will be interesting. I don't have the official letter yet. I just see where it's headed.

Every place is different, but I've successfully pushed back on unreasonable accommodations on multiple occasions, and found our student support office people to be quite, well, reasonable, about it. They often just don't know what is reasonable for particular classes, and usually it is just a blanket letter for all classes anyway. I've found the key phrase to be saying that with the suggested accommodations the student  "cannot meet the learning objectives of this course", as that is a key criterion for "reasonable accommodation". Pretty clearly, a student cannot meet the learning objectives of a lab course without attending the lab course in person.

I'm quite relieved that my dean has just sent a statement stating that remote participation and recordings are no longer an option for any in person class, and faculty can go back to normal policies for making up absences. We will also be notified by student health if a student is required to isolate so it is verified rather than the go-to excuse for missing class that it has become.

[fishbrains]

In your first sentence, you said our state needs to remain a right-to-work/work-at-will state. Then in your second sentence, you complained that your employees now quit without notice when they find a job that pays more than minimum wage (or as you call it, the "maximum wage" you are willing to pay). Bruh, you can't have it both ways.

[FishProf]

Waiting until the last week of summer to decide you can't teach f2f, which you've known you would have to do since January, was a crappy thing to do to the Chair, the students, and your colleagues.  Now I have to pick up the wholly avoidable slack.

Just retire already.

[EdnaMode]

Dear Colleague,

To mix up our two [ethnicity] colleagues multiple times in an email to a student is inexcusable. Their names are nothing like each other's, they look nothing alike, and their specialty subfields aren't even close to related. They just both happen to be [ethnicity]. Stop being a twat. The student stopped by my office and asked if I knew if you meant Dr. X or Dr. Y and I said I thought it was Dr. Y because of the subfield, but told him to go ask you just in case.

No love,

EM

[mamselle]

^ Unrelated, but I agree with the frustration of seeing this...

-=-=-=-=-
Dear online family history research sites,

SOME of us use these sites for historical purposes and don't appreciate you playing around with what you'll show and what you won't for a given fee or other...and stop with the "You'll learn soooo much more about your family if you just....[pay us more money]."

It's manipulative for those who are really interested in family stuff, and it's beyond time-wasting for research stuff.

Just stop with the pence-to-pound monetizing and let me get on with my work already!!!!

All I have to do is go to another site now that I might have found the variant spelling on your site, but it would have been soo much quicker not to have to do that.

M.
     (After the one record I want to see keeps redirecting to a "NEW! Subscription upgrade! page, which I'm not about to do)

[OneMoreYear]

When did we strike the word "reasonable" from our vocabulary? I missed the memo on that. 

[marshwiggle]

When did we strike the word "reasonable" from our vocabulary? I missed the memo on that.

At the same time "compromise" became collaboration with the enemy.

[OneMoreYear]

Every place is different, but I've successfully pushed back on unreasonable accommodations on multiple occasions, and found our student support office people to be quite, well, reasonable, about it. They often just don't know what is reasonable for particular classes, and usually it is just a blanket letter for all classes anyway. I've found the key phrase to be saying that with the suggested accommodations the student  "cannot meet the learning objectives of this course", as that is a key criterion for "reasonable accommodation". Pretty clearly, a student cannot meet the learning objectives of a lab course without attending the lab course in person.

I'm quite relieved that my dean has just sent a statement stating that remote participation and recordings are no longer an option for any in person class, and faculty can go back to normal policies for making up absences. We will also be notified by student health if a student is required to isolate so it is verified rather than the go-to excuse for missing class that it has become.

You must work at a saner place than I. I've given up for lecture classes. They are all hyflex, just like last year. And I've now lost the battle for lab. Apparently, even though the class is designated in-person and I, as the instructor, do not think it's reasonable to deliver virtually, I'm being expected to. I'm still in problem-solving mode, but all of the work-arounds are infinitely more work for me. Apparently b/c we offered this class virtually during the pandemic, we have demonstrated it can be done. Thus, it is not reasonable for me to expect a student with a disability accommodation to attend in person. I'm being "ableist" if I suggest such a thing.

[Langue_doc]

I just love your moniker, snorkmaiden. Welcome, and happy snorking here.

Didn't we have a thread to welcome new members?

[AmLitHist]

Why in the name of all that's sane is there buzz going around about us hiring a temp FT faculty member? There are only 1400 students on our campus this fall (down from 5000+ during comfortable semesters, and from a high of 7800 about 12-13 years ago). Nobody is off, on sabbatical (which are only coming back beginning next year), or retiring. It's all we can do to get everyone full load if they don't want to teach online.  And with several spectacular F--- you overrides to search committees' recommendations over the past year or two, why would anyone want to serve in the newest SC?

And instead of hiring FT temp, here's an idea:  call back one of the many faculty members who you RIF'd in recent years.

(There I go, thinking again.)